Performance vs heat?

If money isn't a concern, get the 8800GT. You should only have to turn up the fan to loud settings to deal with heat if you plan on overclocking it. At stock settings you should be able to turn up the fan to 50 or 60% and be just fine. Fignewton50

If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.aceee

What do you mean by good air flow? How much space should be left?

[QUOTE="aceee"]If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.aaron6581230

What do you mean by good air flow? How much space should be left?

He means air flow through the case. Does your case have fans on the side panel, front, or top? It will have one on the back with all the wires most likely.

[QUOTE="aaron6581230"]

[QUOTE="aceee"]If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.Fignewton50

What do you mean by good air flow? How much space should be left?

He means air flow through the case. Does your case have fans on the side panel, front, or top? It will have one on the back with all the wires most likely.

The only fans I have is the one at the back, in the psu, and on top of the cpu

[QUOTE="Fignewton50"][QUOTE="aaron6581230"]

[QUOTE="aceee"]If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.aaron6581230

What do you mean by good air flow? How much space should be left?

He means air flow through the case. Does your case have fans on the side panel, front, or top? It will have one on the back with all the wires most likely.

The only fans I have is the one at the back, in the psu, and on top of the cpu

Yeah, you should be fine even with that. I'd download a free temp monitoring software when you get the card and change the fan speeds on the GT as necessary.

And dont forget that you always have the chance later to buy an aftermarket cooler for your GPU.
Once you feel you can afford to get one, then give TT DuOrb ahard look tho its abit expensive but to me it worths itSearchMaster

How about the Palit dual slot 8800gt? It has a similar cooler to the Orb

If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.aceee

I set my fan to 40% (factory oced) and under load in Crysis (really taxing on the video card) it goes to 70 degrees celsius. Before I knew how to set the fan it was auto set to 29%, which made my video card go to 90 degrees celsius.

[QUOTE="aceee"]If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.Taiko88

I set my fan to 40% (factory oced) and under load in Crysis (really taxing on the video card) it goes to 70 degrees celsius. Before I knew how to set the fan it was auto set to 29%, which made my video card go to 90 degrees celsius.

How's the noise on the thing?

You can't go wrong with either card. Both offer decent high end performance at a mid-range price. The 8800 GT is about 10% faster in most games with the exception of BioShock, Stalker, and Call of Juarez (and maybe another game or two that I'm missing) where the 3870 is actually the faster card.

If you're willing to spend the extra money and can deal with potential heat problems (as your case has mediocre airflow) then the 8800 GT is the better card overall, but the 3870 is by no means a slouch and you can easily overclock it so that it performs almost as well as a 8800 GT.

[QUOTE="Taiko88"]

[QUOTE="aceee"]If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.aaron6581230

I set my fan to 40% (factory oced) and under load in Crysis (really taxing on the video card) it goes to 70 degrees celsius. Before I knew how to set the fan it was auto set to 29%, which made my video card go to 90 degrees celsius.

How's the noise on the thing?

Too be honest not too noisy at all, I can't hear it until I set the fan to 55%.

You can't go wrong with either card. Both offer decent high end performance at a mid-range price. The 8800 GT is about 10% faster in most games with the exception of BioShock, Stalker, and Call of Juarez (and maybe another game or two that I'm missing) where the 3870 is actually the faster card.

If you're willing to spend the extra money and can deal with potential heat problems (as your case has mediocre airflow) then the 8800 GT is the better card overall, but the 3870 is by no means a slouch and you can easily overclock it so that it performs almost as well as a 8800 GT.

karasill

Just wondering, how does my case have bad airflow?

Personally I would define "good" airflow as 1 or 2 120mm rear fans, 1 120mm front fan and at least 1 120mm side fan. I really would recommend a side fan for an 8800 card.

I had major probs with my GTX then realised my side fans had died! Fine once the fans were replaced. My GF was having similar problems with her 8800GT, just added a 120mm side fan and it worked perfectly.

[QUOTE="aaron6581230"][QUOTE="Taiko88"]

[QUOTE="aceee"]If you have good air flow in your case 60% should be sufficient under load. My 8800gt runs at about 65-70c under load with 60% fan speed while playing cod4 max settings.Taiko88

I set my fan to 40% (factory oced) and under load in Crysis (really taxing on the video card) it goes to 70 degrees celsius. Before I knew how to set the fan it was auto set to 29%, which made my video card go to 90 degrees celsius.

How's the noise on the thing?

Too be honest not too noisy at all, I can't hear it until I set the fan to 55%.

Personally I would define "good" airflow as 1 or 2 120mm rear fans, 1 120mm front fan and at least 1 120mm side fan. I really would recommend a side fan for an 8800 card.

I had major probs with my GTX then realised my side fans had died! Fine once the fans were replaced. My GF was having similar problems with her 8800GT, just added a 120mm side fan and it worked perfectly.

superchronik

You can spend a little more and get this card and get the best of both worlds.8)Thinker_145

No, I can't spend much more. Thanks anyways

[QUOTE="karasill"]

You can't go wrong with either card. Both offer decent high end performance at a mid-range price. The 8800 GT is about 10% faster in most games with the exception of BioShock, Stalker, and Call of Juarez (and maybe another game or two that I'm missing) where the 3870 is actually the faster card.

If you're willing to spend the extra money and can deal with potential heat problems (as your case has mediocre airflow) then the 8800 GT is the better card overall, but the 3870 is by no means a slouch and you can easily overclock it so that it performs almost as well as a 8800 GT.

aaron6581230

Just wondering, how does my case have bad airflow?

You can't go wrong with either card. Both offer decent high end performance at a mid-range price. The 8800 GT is about 10% faster in most games with the exception of BioShock, Stalker, and Call of Juarez(and maybe another game or two that I'm missing) where the 3870 is actually the faster card.

If you're willing to spend the extra money and can deal with potential heat problems (as your case has mediocre airflow) then the 8800 GT is the better card overall, but the 3870 is by no means a slouch and you can easily overclock it so that it performs almost as well as a 8800 GT.

karasill

And i dont get where you get this 10% from.The 3870 is more slower than that compared to the 8800GT.

Here's the 3870 at $210: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125086

Here's the 8800 GT at $240:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252

They offer the same amount of "bang" for the buck. The 8800 GT is faster but it's more expensive, but like I said the 3870 is still a very fast card that will run anything just fine.

The 8800GT is noticeably faster in the only game that matters, crysis, though hopefully future drivers will continue to improve ATI performance.

Anyways, you can't go wrong either way, and you are worrying about the airflow and cooling WAYY to much. The fan is VERY quiet up to about 50%, and even then it's still quiet. I can't hear it at all at 40% and my card never tops 77C which is fine considering the card can handle temperatures of 100C or more.

Just get the one you have the money for, because both can max out almost any game out there. Also, in the end, according to anandtech.com the HD3870 is 15% slower overall. Generally, the HD3870 excells in games that aren't shader intensive (like stalker), but takes a hit in those at are (oblivion).

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=3151&p=6

Very informative ^

Here's the 3870 at $210: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252

Here's the 8800 GT at $240:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252

They offer the same amount of "bang" for the buck. The 8800 GT is faster but it's more expensive, but like I said the 3870 is still a very fast card that will run anything just fine.

karasill

You linked the 8800GT twice, but yeah.

[QUOTE="Thinker_145"][QUOTE="karasill"]

You can't go wrong with either card. Both offer decent high end performance at a mid-range price. The 8800 GT is about 10% faster in most games with the exception of BioShock, Stalker, and Call of Juarez(and maybe another game or two that I'm missing) where the 3870 is actually the faster card.

If you're willing to spend the extra money and can deal with potential heat problems (as your case has mediocre airflow) then the 8800 GT is the better card overall, but the 3870 is by no means a slouch and you can easily overclock it so that it performs almost as well as a 8800 GT.

karasill

And i dont get where you get this 10% from.The 3870 is more slower than that compared to the 8800GT.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/3/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in STALKER

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/4/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in CAll of Juarez

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/5/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in Company of Heros

I could find more games if you'd like :roll:

And 10% is about right. Sure there are a few games that perform even 20% faster but the majority is in the 10%-15% range. The 3870 and 8800 GT have the SAME price to performance ratio.

Than you show the 3870 winning in company of hereos in medium settings with no AA.:roll:

Than you show 3870 winning in call of juarez with 2xAA whereas my link shows the 8800GT winning with 4xAA and 16xAF.So?:|

[QUOTE="karasill"]

Here's the 3870 at $210: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252

Here's the 8800 GT at $240:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150252

They offer the same amount of "bang" for the buck. The 8800 GT is faster but it's more expensive, but like I said the 3870 is still a very fast card that will run anything just fine.

shanelevy

You linked the 8800GT twice, but yeah.

[QUOTE="karasill"][QUOTE="Thinker_145"][QUOTE="karasill"]

You can't go wrong with either card. Both offer decent high end performance at a mid-range price. The 8800 GT is about 10% faster in most games with the exception of BioShock, Stalker, and Call of Juarez(and maybe another game or two that I'm missing) where the 3870 is actually the faster card.

If you're willing to spend the extra money and can deal with potential heat problems (as your case has mediocre airflow) then the 8800 GT is the better card overall, but the 3870 is by no means a slouch and you can easily overclock it so that it performs almost as well as a 8800 GT.

Thinker_145

And i dont get where you get this 10% from.The 3870 is more slower than that compared to the 8800GT.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/3/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in STALKER

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/4/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in CAll of Juarez

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/5/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in Company of Heros

I could find more games if you'd like :roll:

And 10% is about right. Sure there are a few games that perform even 20% faster but the majority is in the 10%-15% range. The 3870 and 8800 GT have the SAME price to performance ratio.

Than you show the 3870 winning in company of hereos in medium settings with no AA.:roll:

Than you show 3870 winning in call of juarez with 2xAA whereas my link shows the 8800GT winning with 4xAA and 16xAF.So?:|

Not everyone plays with AA or AF you know. There are situations when the 8800 GT does a better job and there are others where the 3870 is better. Why can't you just admit that the 3870 CAN be faster in certain games and situations? Why can't you admit that it's only about 10%-15% slower overall?

[QUOTE="Thinker_145"][QUOTE="karasill"][QUOTE="Thinker_145"][QUOTE="karasill"]

You can't go wrong with either card. Both offer decent high end performance at a mid-range price. The 8800 GT is about 10% faster in most games with the exception of BioShock, Stalker, and Call of Juarez(and maybe another game or two that I'm missing) where the 3870 is actually the faster card.

If you're willing to spend the extra money and can deal with potential heat problems (as your case has mediocre airflow) then the 8800 GT is the better card overall, but the 3870 is by no means a slouch and you can easily overclock it so that it performs almost as well as a 8800 GT.

karasill

And i dont get where you get this 10% from.The 3870 is more slower than that compared to the 8800GT.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/3/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in STALKER

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/4/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in CAll of Juarez

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/605/5/ 3870 beating the 8800 GT in Company of Heros

I could find more games if you'd like :roll:

And 10% is about right. Sure there are a few games that perform even 20% faster but the majority is in the 10%-15% range. The 3870 and 8800 GT have the SAME price to performance ratio.

Than you show the 3870 winning in company of hereos in medium settings with no AA.:roll:

Than you show 3870 winning in call of juarez with 2xAA whereas my link shows the 8800GT winning with 4xAA and 16xAF.So?:|

Not everyone plays with AA or AF you know. There are situations when the 8800 GT does a better job and there are others where the 3870 is better. Why can't you just admit that the 3870 CAN be faster in certain games at situations? Why can't you admit that it's only about 10%-15% slower overall?

Anyways take a look at this and just see for yourself how much the difference is between the 2 cards.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/479/13/

Well you can say that the 3870 is in the same league as the 8800GT but the difference is quite big between the 2 from whatever i see.Maybe not everybody uses AA and AF but the majority DOES if they have a capable GPU ofcourse.Are you telling me that you dont use AA and AF in most of your games?And in 99% of situations which actually matter the 8800GT wins.

Anyways take a look at this and just see for yourself how much the difference is between the 2 cards.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/479/13/

Thinker_145

I'm not disputing that the 8800 GT is faster, nor do I ignore that it can be as much as 20%-25% faster in SOME games (thinking of Crysis), but you seem to not acknowledge that as a whole the 3870 is only about 10%-15% slower. You also don't acknowledge that it offers the same bang for the buck as the 8800 GT.

Name one game, just one game that the 3870 can't run on high or max settings and I'll admit the 8800 GT should be bought over the 3870 despite it being more expensive and having potential heat problems.

Maybe you also forget that the 3870 has a lot of overclocking potential. I've overclocked mine where the cores speeds were running 100 mhz faster then stock and memoery was running 250 mhz faster then stock. I was getting a good 8%-10% increase in framerate.

[QUOTE="Thinker_145"]Well you can say that the 3870 is in the same league as the 8800GT but the difference is quite big between the 2 from whatever i see.Maybe not everybody uses AA and AF but the majority DOES if they have a capable GPU ofcourse.Are you telling me that you dont use AA and AF in most of your games?And in 99% of situations which actually matter the 8800GT wins.

Anyways take a look at this and just see for yourself how much the difference is between the 2 cards.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/479/13/

karasill

I'm not disputing that the 8800 GT is faster, nor do I ignore that it can be as much as 20%-25% faster in SOME games (thinking of Crysis), but you seem to not acknowledge that as a whole the 3870 is only about 10%-15% slower. You also don't acknowledge that it offers the same bang for the buck as the 8800 GT.

Name one game, just one game that the 3870 can't run on high or max settings and I'll admit the 8800 GT should be bought over the 3870 despite it being more expensive and having potential heat problems.

Maybe you also forget that the 3870 has a lot of overclocking potential. I've overclocked mine where the cores speeds were running 100 mhz faster then stock and memoery was running 250 mhz faster then stock. I was getting a good 8%-10% increase in framerate.

And are you saying that apart from crysis a 3870 maxes every game?Well it cannot max DIRT and world in conflict in DX10.I am sure there are other games as well and ya the 8800GT doesnt max these games either but it does play them better.

[QUOTE="karasill"][QUOTE="Thinker_145"]Well you can say that the 3870 is in the same league as the 8800GT but the difference is quite big between the 2 from whatever i see.Maybe not everybody uses AA and AF but the majority DOES if they have a capable GPU ofcourse.Are you telling me that you dont use AA and AF in most of your games?And in 99% of situations which actually matter the 8800GT wins.

Anyways take a look at this and just see for yourself how much the difference is between the 2 cards.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/479/13/

Thinker_145

I'm not disputing that the 8800 GT is faster, nor do I ignore that it can be as much as 20%-25% faster in SOME games (thinking of Crysis), but you seem to not acknowledge that as a whole the 3870 is only about 10%-15% slower. You also don't acknowledge that it offers the same bang for the buck as the 8800 GT.

Name one game, just one game that the 3870 can't run on high or max settings and I'll admit the 8800 GT should be bought over the 3870 despite it being more expensive and having potential heat problems.

Maybe you also forget that the 3870 has a lot of overclocking potential. I've overclocked mine where the cores speeds were running 100 mhz faster then stock and memoery was running 250 mhz faster then stock. I was getting a good 8%-10% increase in framerate.

And are you saying that apart from crysis a 3870 maxes every game?Well it cannot max DIRT and world in conflict in DX10.I am sure there are other games as well and ya the 8800GT doesnt max these games either but it does play them better.

if anyone still listens to thinker, you need to realise, it is a fanboy and you should not respond to it... i mean him. they both have their strengths and weaknesses, the 8800gt is a bit faster, but has bad cooling and is a bit more expencive, the 370 is cheaper, has a dual slot cooler which is a big plus, but is a bit slower in most games. you can easily overclock your 3870 to 8800gt performance if you want to save a few bucks. this is the 3870 i would recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161218Lilgunney612

My 8800gt runs just fine, its quiet and I have no heat issues. WTF are you guys talking about?TheDuffman26

geez TC i thought u already asked last time.Just get palit.eva89

I'm not sure about Palit anymore. I heard they don't include anti-static packaging, making them kinda cheap

I always have my fan on my 8600GT at 100%, is that bad? I heard that the fan will burn out a lot faster. Is this true?nVidiaGaMer

Also Thinker, I forgot to mention but that link you provided has the 3870 beating the 8800 GT or only being a few frames slower. I don't get how the 3870 isn't in the same league or shouldn't be bought over the 8800 GT :|karasill

The link i provided shows the 8800GT as 30% faster than the 3870.:roll:

Their chart clearly shows that.And the guru3d link also shows the 3870 getting quite a thrashing.What are you looking at?

[QUOTE="karasill"]Also Thinker, I forgot to mention but that link you provided has the 3870 beating the 8800 GT or only being a few frames slower. I don't get how the 3870 isn't in the same league or shouldn't be bought over the 8800 GT :|Thinker_145

The link i provided shows the 8800GT as 30% faster than the 3870.:roll:

Their chart clearly shows that.And the guru3d link also shows the 3870 getting quite a thrashing.What are you looking at?

[QUOTE="karasill"]Also Thinker, I forgot to mention but that link you provided has the 3870 beating the 8800 GT or only being a few frames slower. I don't get how the 3870 isn't in the same league or shouldn't be bought over the 8800 GT :|Thinker_145

The link i provided shows the 8800GT as 30% faster than the 3870.:roll:

Their chart clearly shows that.And the guru3d link also shows the 3870 getting quite a thrashing.What are you looking at?

[QUOTE="Thinker_145"]

[QUOTE="karasill"]Also Thinker, I forgot to mention but that link you provided has the 3870 beating the 8800 GT or only being a few frames slower. I don't get how the 3870 isn't in the same league or shouldn't be bought over the 8800 GT :|karasill

The link i provided shows the 8800GT as 30% faster than the 3870.:roll:

Their chart clearly shows that.And the guru3d link also shows the 3870 getting quite a thrashing.What are you looking at?

And my link still shows that overall the GT beats the 640GTS so?

[QUOTE="karasill"][QUOTE="Thinker_145"]

[QUOTE="karasill"]Also Thinker, I forgot to mention but that link you provided has the 3870 beating the 8800 GT or only being a few frames slower. I don't get how the 3870 isn't in the same league or shouldn't be bought over the 8800 GT :|Thinker_145

The link i provided shows the 8800GT as 30% faster than the 3870.:roll:

Their chart clearly shows that.And the guru3d link also shows the 3870 getting quite a thrashing.What are you looking at?

And my link still shows that overall the GT beats the 640GTS so?

You know thinker, if you want to ignore the benchmarks that actually show the 3870 beating the 8800 GT, then fine. Let's only acknowledge the benchmarks that show the 8800 GT giving the 3870 a good beating. And disregard the ones that show the 3870 winning as a fluke. I mean when most people would agree that it's only 15% slower overall, and you're the only one who says different then somethings a miss, don't ya think?karasill

And the benches posted above dont show that different of a story.Why dont you actually see the settings and drivers used when looking at benchmarks?

The link posted above shows the 3870 beating the GT in prey but the link i posted says otherwise and is using newer drivers which makes them more accurate.And then we see the 3870 winning in WiC WITHOUT AA and losing with AA in the link i provided so who's the winner then?

And then see the rest of that guru3d link posted above.8800GT gives "comfortable thrashing" in BF2,PT Boats DX10,stalker,warfront turning point and GRAW 2.Fear is a close one but still the GT wins.

So all i see is that the GT destroys the 3870 in the majority of games by big margins and there are games where it's pretty close and even in them mostly the GT but then there is this one rear game in which the 3870 wins.Nothing to shout about really.